ErikMcClure's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[::Out Of Mind::]

Soothing

This is a really incredible song, something ethereal that floats out of reality and takes the listener with it. This is what real music is. I hope you've found somewhere else to post your music, because you should never, ever, ever stop.

gOrc responds:

Thanks for your kindness. I actually will never ever stop to make music, it is my passion since I was 15.

[xKore - Bunch of old stuff]

Incredible

I have never heard a stranger mix of crazy dubstep and incredible atmospheric electronica (I of course prefer the latter). The variety displayed in these songs is remarkable, and your incredible skill evident in each track. Simply amazing.

[xKore - Interstate (FULL)]

This is a work of art

Anyone who says you should stick to dubstep is incapable of comprehending how incredible this track is.

xKore responds:

i appreciate it duuude :)

[[HP] Lakemaster's Den]

Very good

It could still use some polish and length, but you nailed the atmosphere here. The song is absolutely perfect for the situation it was designed for. In terms of production, this would benefit from a bit better mixing on some of the later instruments, but overall is a great start.

[==(Shadow People)==]

Superb

The drums could have been a little better, I think, maybe with a more steady beat of soft snares. Other then that, this song is incredible. The atmosphere is brilliant and it sounds like something straight out of a space game. Everything is mixed to perfection, the reverb is perfect, and the instruments are incredible.

10/10
5/5

[+- Misty Morning -+]

Stop with the limiter

I can still hear that limiter on the master channel. You really should focus on EQing all the instruments so the limiter isn't necessary. You should sidechain specific instruments manually instead of relying on a limited to do it.

Your progression is fairly good, but it never, ever changes. The entire song is the same series of notes over and over with various changes in the instruments. You need to have a breakdown and some alternate melodies going on.

Some of the synths sounded a bit too much like presets here. By the end of the song the mix was just dying with all the stuff you had going on under a default limiter. You have a bit more of an outro to this, but rule #1: Land on the tonic! Or at least the dominant, but usually one ends on the tonic. You just needed one more note and possibly a better placement of the crash.

In general the melody here is too generic without enough variation to get a very high score.

6/10
3/5

[+- Solemn's Reach -+]

Progression

This track has an impressive chord progression, and I can tell you were really trying to pull as much as you could out of it, but I don't think you went far enough. There is so much more you could do with a progression like this. The track also had no lead-in whatsoever, which would have helped build the song a little more. The main problem is that you let the chord progression be the melody, when you should have had a melody on top of it. Then, you fail to include any real outro at all, the song just stops.

The synths and effects are all very intriguing, but the mix doesn't seem to be particularly well balanced. The hihats and drums in general are terrible. I would recommend finding better samples and bringing drums into the foreground with more mix work on them. You also sound like you just stuck a limiter on the master channel, which suffocates the mix.

In general, this is a great idea, but the execution just isn't there.

8/10
4/5

AikaMusic responds:

Thanks for the help :)

[[TC] Break Free]

Mix?

While this kicks the shit out of my song and laughs in its face, I have to comment on near total lack of low-end on almost the entire song. You've done insane kicks in the past, so this seems to be deliberate, but I question if it was necessarily a good idea.

The build-up here is the most insane thing I have ever heard, but I feel like the song should have had a bigger punch right afterwards. This is really just the song being victim to its own awesomeness, since the build-up is just *that good*. I am going to steal your build-up idea for my own song >D

My favorite part is the primary melody work with the synth in the middle of the song, which is just astounding. The entire song has an incredible atmosphere that few trance songs manage to capture. Your melodies are simply pure elegance captured in harmony.

9/10
5/5

[_-={An Angel Dies}=-_]

Stunning

This is beautiful in so many ways I could not describe it with a book. This is a masterpiece beyond anything I have heard in a long, long time.

[Guitar Vs. Piano [ver. XCEED] (Goukisan Remix)]

Louder Piano

Other then that, this is a dream come true. Expressive drums, chords, dynamic instruments, everything this song should be. You are amazing and probably the only artist on this planet capable of consistently coming out with metal songs that I actually like.

9/10
5/5

rtnario responds:

Wow, really? A review coming from someone like you, an already established artist means a lot to me. Thanks so much for the detailed review, and I hope that my future works reach expectation! =)